RvB High
by Tailsgfriend
Summary: It's been seven months since Church left his old high school without any warning, no one knew where he went or what happened to him. So what happens when he returns? Why did he leave and what's bothering him so much now? Church/Caboose, Grif/Simmons, Tex/Tucker Wash/Carolina One sided O'malley/Tex Maybe some Doc/Donut later
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**I just want to say before hand that I am still continuing my Pewdiecry story, I just had a bit of writers block and wanted to write a new story along with it, so don't worry Pewdiecry fans!**

Church sighed as he made his way into the school parking lot, after seven months he was back at the school again. Nothing seemed to have changed really, not that he thought it would, the school was a dreary and dull brick building, there wasn't much that could be done to make it look better. Church did note though that some new flowers and trees had been planted. The teen put his gray sweatshirt hood over his head, he didn't want anyone to recognize him. Church used to be top of the school, he used to be popular and cool, then he moved and everything went to hell. He couldn't let his old friends see him so... broken.

To be honest Church didn't know why he came back if he didn't want his friends to see him. He could've gone any where in the world but he chose to come back here. Maybe Church just wanted to relive the memories of the good old days, when the world was a happy place, or maybe some part of him wanted to see his friends, make sure they were okay and maybe even try to get everything back to normal. The teen sighed, things never could get back to normal. Not only because of what happened to him, but the fact he abandoned his friends when he left, he wouldn't be surprised if they were pissed at him, if they never wanted to talk to him again.

Church was snapped out of his thoughts when the school bell rang, 'Well here goes nothing' he said to himself as he started to fight his way through the crowd. Church made sure to keep his hood on covering his face as he entered the school, he didn't care about the weird looks he got. The teen walked to the main office, remembering where it was from the last time he was here, and went to the front desk to be met by the secretary.

"What do you need?" She asked, Church laughed a little to himself, the attitude here didn't change much either.

"I need my schedule." He stated, it was halfway through the second term of the year so the only place he could go to get his class list was the offfice.

"Name?" The secretary asked as she went to the computer to search the database for his schedule.

"Leonard Church." Church replied, the secretary typed in his name and with a click of the mouse printed out his schedule.

"Welcome back, Leonard. You're schedule is on the printer behind you." She said, Church just nodded in response. He grabbed the piece of paper and left the office. 'Looks like I have math first.' Church said to himself, he made his way to his old locker deciding no one would miss him if he was late to class. Before he could even attempt to open the locker though he was stopped by someone pushing him against the wall.

"Who are you and why are you going to that locker?" A feminine voice asked angrily. Despite his anger for being pinned to the wall Church still managed to smile when he recognized the voice as Tex.

"Well hello to you to." The black haired teen said sarcastically, Tex stepped back a bit, allowing Church to get a good look at her. She had her red hair up in a pony tail and was wearing a green t shirt, jeans, and black converse. Most guys wouldn't be able to keep their composure around her because of her looks but Church different. He wasn't too stunned by it, sure she was pretty and all but he wasn't that attracted to her.

"Church?" Tex asked in a whisper, Church's smile widened.

"The one and only." He said, she seemed to doubt it at first but when Church took his hood off she quickly recognized him.

"What are you doing back?" Tex asked, her expression went from surprise to anger and she pushed Church up against the wall again.

"Woah, I thought you'd be happy to see me again." The black haired teen said.

"You left without even telling anyone." Tex said sternly, Church's smile dropped.

"I know." He said averting his gaze from the red head.

"You didn't even talk to me." Church sighed again, it was true, he hadn't talked to anyone after he left, he just couldn't... It was too much to bare.

"I know." The black haired teen said once again.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming back?" Tex asked angrily, Church rolled his eyes.

"Maybe I wanted it to be a surprise, or maybe I just didn't want anyone to know, why does it matter to you?" He asked, pushing Tex away slightly so he wasn't up against the wall anymore.

"It doesn't." The red head replied.

"Oh really?" Church asked with a smile, Tex just kept a straight face.

"Yes, really." She said, Church turned to his locker and started to work the lock.

"Okay." He said humorously. The teen finally got his locker open and started to put stuff in it.

"So are you going to tell the others you're back?" Tex asked, Church shook his head.

"I wasn't planning on it, I'd rather keep this on the downlow... I don't want anyone to know I'm here." He said, Tex nodded.

"Yeah, you wouldn't want all your fan girls to see you with that nasty scar would you?" She asked humourously. Church grumled to himself, he knew Tex would bring it up sooner or later after seeing his face. On the right side of his face he had a scar that ran across his eye, and the said eye lost it's cobalt color and was now gray and a bit clouded over.

"How'd you get it anyway?" Tex asked, Church looked at her angrily.

"I'm not talking about it." He said, it brought back to many bad memories, the memories he was trying to run away from.

"Snappy much. What did you get your ass kicked in a fight or something? Because that would make sense." Tex said, Church shot her another glare as he closed his locker.

"Can you stop being a bitch and just leave it alone?" He asked, his voice laced with annoyance. Tex crossed her arms.

"Can you stop being such a sensitive asshole and calm the fuck down?" She asked in return, Church groaned.

"Whatever, I'm going to class." He said, Tex leaned over and kissed him before walking off.

"Okay, see you later." She said with a small wave. Church rolled his eyes and smiled as he put his hood on, that was their relationsihp, angrily calling eachother names and then kissing like it never happened. Sure it could get tireding, but what could he do, Tex was all he had.

The next couple hours went by in a blur, Church's math teacher wasn't too mad that he came late, he just used the excuse that he got lost. In most of his classes the teen sat in the back, he kept his head low and didn't talk to anyone. Luckily no one payed much attention to him, he just kept to himself, writing down notes when needed and doing his work. Church felt like he didn't miss much, he understood mostly everything that the class was learning. He didn't try much in class yet he managed to be one of the smartest kids in his grade, it surprised everyone, even Church himself.

Now it was time for lunch, Church walked into the cafeteria and sighed, his claustrophobia kicking in. There were people everywhere, Church found a round empty table and sat there, he really didn't want to deal with people right now. The teen just looked down at the table lost in thought, he didn't realize until he heard a chair being pushed next to him that a person was there. Church looked up slightly to see a guy with beach blonde hair, a pink shirt, and tight grey jeans sit next to him. The black haired teen instantly recognized it as Donut. Church groaned, he didn't want to talk to anyone, especially not the over friendly, flambouant Donut.

"Hey there!" The blonde said with a large grin. To be honest, his kindness sickened Church, the only person he could deal with that acted as nice as Donut was Caboose. Church shook his head, he couldn't think about Caboose right now.

"What do you want?" The black haired teen asked angrily.

"You were alone here, so I thought I'd give you some company." Donut said unfazed by Church's harsh tone.

"Well just fuck off." Church said, snapping his head up and sending a glare to Donut. He didn't realize until it was too late that his hood fell off, revealing his face.

"Oh. My. God." Donut said, his face was schocked and his lips turned into a smile as he recognized who was before him.

"Grif!" Dounut called. Church looked over his shoulder to see the said man with ginger hair and freckles perk up.

"Fuck me..." The black haired teen whisperedto himself. His cover had been blown and now he was going to have to deal with the lazy ass motherfucker everyone knew as Grif.

"What do you want?" Grif asked walking towards the two, Donut bounced up.

"Look who I found!" He said motioning towards Church. Grif smiled smugly and crossed his arms.

"Well I'll be... Leonard Church came back." He said, Church groaned.

"Just leave me alone." He said clenching his fists, but Grif had other plans. The ginger turned to the rest of the people in the cafeteria.

"Hey everyone! Look who returned from the dead!" Grif yelled, Church froze in his seat as all eyes went on him. He could feel it, their stares burning into him, he heard the whispers throughout the lunch room. 'Who is that?' 'Is that Church?' 'What's he doing back?' 'What's with that scar on his face?' Church couldn't take it, anxiety welled up inside of him. He hated the stares, the whispers. He felt like he couldn't breath. The black haired teen sat up from where he was sitting, he put his hood on and walked out of the cafeteria, hoping to avoid having a full on panic attack. He was pissed, pissed at Grif, pissed at himself, pissed at everyone. Was it too much to ask to not be noticed?

"Maybe I can sneak out, skip the rest of the day." Church whispered to himself. He started walking towards the entrance of the school when he heard yet another familiar voice.

"Hey Church!" Church groaned and kept walking, but the person ran up next to him.

"Woah, where are you going? You were going to leave without saying hi to me?" Church looked next to him to see Tucker. The black haired teen sighed.

"Hey." He said casually, he stopped walking and now just stood there looking at his friend. Tucker didn't change much, he was still taller than Church, though everyone was, had dark brown curly hair and very tan skin.

"Don't just 'hey' me. What are you doing back here?" Tucker asked, before Church could answer the sound of footsteps bounding down the hall cut him off. The black haired teen turned around juast as he was tackled to the floor. Church looked up to see the ever so familiar face of Caboose.

"Church, is it really you?!" The blonde asked, Church rolled his eyes.

"Well, if it was anyone else they probably would've punched you by now." The black haired teen said. Caboose smiled and hugged Church tightly. Church didn't know when the blonde's constant affection stopped bothering him, but now he didn't really mind it, he actually kind of liked it. Church shook off the thoughts, and started to push the blonde off of him.

"Ok, that's enough now." The black haired tean said, Caboose got off of him and the two got to their feet.

"Church, I missed you so much! I wasn't sure if you would ever come back!" The blonde exclaimed.

"Yeah, what happened anyways Church? You kinda just left... You didn't even tell anyone you were going." Tucker said crossing his arms, Church scratched the back of his neck.

"Well what can you say. Families move." He said.

"So why did you come back?" Tucker asked, Church averted his gaze.

"It's a long story." The black haired teen responded. The bell rang indicating that lunch was over and it was time to start heading back to class. Church sighed in relief, he no longer had to answer that question. He started to walk off but was followed by his two friends, he groaned to himself in irritation.

"Church, what happened to your eye?" Caboose asked. Honestly Church wanted to lash out at Caboose for mentioning the scar, he hated to even think about it, but he knew that if he lashed out at the blonde he'd feel terrible later... like he kicked a puppy or some shit.

"I had an accident." Church said, trying not to give away any information, he really just didn't want to talk about what had happened in the past seven months.

"Are you like York? Can you even see out of that eye?" Caboose asked, Tucker elbowed him whispering something like it's not appropriate to ask something like that.

"Nope, can't see anything out of that eye." Church said, both friends were shocked that he had answered the question without getting pissed off. The black haired teen stopped in front of a classroom.

"Well, this is my class, I guess I'll talk to you guys later or some-" Church was cut off.

"Hey, why don't we all hang out like old times." Tucker suggested. Caboose perked up with this.

"Yeah! Church, will you hang out with us?!" The blonde asked excitedly. Apparently Tucker, Caboose, and Tex hadn't really hung out much after he left... It seemed Church was the glue that held them together some how. The black haired teen sighed, knowing he had no real choice, he didn't want to upset Caboose. Anyways, how bad could it be, right? This would be a good way to forget about everything that had happened.

"Sure..." Church said, and with that he walked into the classroom leaving his two friends behind.

************************************************** *************************

The group all ended up going to Tucker's house, his parents were on a business trip right now so it was a good place to hang out. They started by playing video games and now were just sitting around talking about life. Somehow they managed to get on the subject of dating.

"So are you and Tex together now?" Tucker asked, Church thought for a moment, he didn't really know what him and Tex were.

"I guess you could say we're together. I mean she kissed me earlier and things seemed the same as before I left." The black haired teen said with a small shrug. For a moment he thought he saw a look of sadness on both Tucker and Caboose's faces but it disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.

"So what about you guys, are either of you with anyone?" Church asked, Caboose just shook his head without a word.

"I'm not with anyone, though I did get it on with Kaikaina last week." Tucker said with a small laugh, saying his infamous catch phrase after. Church rolled his eyes, at this and laughed along with him. Caboose on the other hand stayed silent, his blue eyes focused down at his hands.

"Caboose are you ok?" Church asked, the blonde was very talkative earlier, so he didn't know why he was so quiet now. Caboose looked up nervously.

"Uh, yeah... I, uh, It's starting to get late. I think my parents are going to start worrying." He said, Church looked at his watch, it was 1:30 am and they had school the next day.

"Oh, shit, Tucker, we need to go." The black haired teen said. Tucker nodded and the group all sat up and walked to the door. Tucker grabbed his keys and they made their way to the car. They decided to bring Church home first since his house was closest. The black haired teen shrunk in embarrassment as they pulled up to a crappy apartment complex.

"This is where you live?" Tucker asked shocked, Church shot him a glare. He knew why everyone was so surprised, Church's family was never really poor, they actually were very well off... They could be classified as rich.

"Well it's just this is a sketchy place." Tucker said, Church sighed.

"Yeah... Well it's good enough for me." He said getting out of the car before anyone could ask anymore questions.

Church started walking up to his apartment. This day had turned out... interesting. Surprising none the less. Nothing seemed to change much. Yes, he didn't want to see his friends earlier, but that was because he thought they would hate him or not get off his case for why he left and what had happened... That didn't happen though, sure they asked questions, but they didn't press too much for answers and let it be when Church told them to. 'Maybe things really can get back to normal.' The black haired teen thought to himself as he unlocked the door to his apartment and walked in. Church was going to his room when he saw his reflection in the mirror above his dresser, he walked over to it and looked at himself. He stared at his scar.

"No... Things won't be the same... They never will." Church whispered to himself defeated.


	2. Chapter 2

_'What about Church?'_

_ 'Church left us, he's been gone for months. I don't think he's coming back, Tex.'_

Tucker was snapped out of his daydreaming when his poptarts jumped out of the toaster. He grabbed them, which was a mistake since they were burning hot, and threw them onto his plate. 'I can't wait for my parents to come back to I can finally have a good breakfast' Tucker said to himself. When his mother was around she'd always make him a nice breakfast like pancakes or french toast. The teen sat down at his table and started to munch on his poptart, he let his mind wander back to Tex and what they had done not to long ago.

Yes, the two had actually done it, they really slept together. Tucker hated himself, he slept with his best friend's girlfriend. Sure at the time he didn't think Church would come back, but he did. The worst part about all of this was that Tucker really didn't want Church to come back... If he hadn't then Tucker could've continued his 'thing' with Tex.

Tucker shook his head, how could he not have wanted Church back? Church is his best friend, and he sure as hell made everyone happier by returning. Caboose had taken his friends abrupt leaving pretty hard, and Tex... Well she was upset too. Tucker tried to feel guilty for what he did, he betrayed his friend for pete's sake! But no matter what way Tucker looked at it, he couldn't be upset with himself. Church was the one who left, he didn't even tell Tex, so that could be considered a break up... right? And Tex was so upset, Tucker just was comforting her... He took his chance and made a move. There's nothing wrong with that. Technically, when it all comes down to it, it's Church's fault. He was the one who left, the one who ignored his friends and his 'girlfriend' so there's no reason for Tucker to feel guilty. No reason at all.

Tucker got up and threw his plate in the trash, he then grabbed his car keys and left the house, heading off to school. He started to think about Church, wondering why the black haired teen had left so suddenly. He seemed fine the day before he left, Tucker practically remembered it like yesterday. Why? Because Tucker had found out how much Church actually cared about Tex that day. The two had been together for a year, and Church sure as hell faked his love well. Tucker knew it was fake, he knew it when he saw... and heard what he did that day.

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FLASHBACK

Tucker groggily woke up, he hadn't gotten much sleep, there was a thunder storm last night which was the worst possible thing to happen when Church was over. The black haired teen was terrified of thunder for some reason, it was just one of those things that stuck with him from childhood. Usually when there was a thunderstorm though, Church woudn't be too bad, he'd go to another room and deal with his worry and fear alone. Tucker learned very quickly not to bother him when this happened because if you tried to talk to Church he'd practically bite your head off. The thing that was so different about this time was that Caboose was over, and he kept bugging Church, so things got loud.

When the storm had started Tucker had already been in his room, lucky for him. He had thought that Caboose and Church had been asleep until he heard yelling. He knew instantly what was going on and tried to get Caboose away from Church, but the blonde just wouldn't go away. So Tucker retreated to his room tried to go to sleep, and when Church was finally quiet the storm got worse and kept Tucker up till 3 in the fucking morning.

Tucker left his room, praying he wouldn't find a dead Caboose on the floor. He was shocked to find what he did. On the air matress that was set up for his two friends, Church and Caboose were cuddled up together. His two guy friends were CUDDLED together! Tucker guessed that this is the reason Church quieted down last night, Caboose ended up calming him down and comforting him like this, but still this was a bit... shocking. Caboose had his arms wrapped around Church protectively and the latter clung on to the blonde's shirt and had his head cuddled up into his neck. At first Tucker thought this was hilarious, and would make great black mail but all humor was wiped from his expression when he heard a small moan and a name after it come from Church. And no, that name was NOT Tex's. It was Caboose's.

"Why the fu-" Tucker started, wondering why the hell his friend was having a dream like that about Caboose but then it clicked in. It all just clicked it. Why Church had always treated Caboose the best... Tucker remembered all the times that Church would yell at Caboose for doing something dumb, the small smile he'd have when Caboose apologized, when Church was trying to be mad. He finally realized the horrifying truth. Church didn't like Tex, he didn't like her at all. At least not in the way he said he did. She was just a cover for who he really liked. The blonde sleeping right next to him. Tucker shook his head and went back to his room, he was strangely pissed. He was mad that Church was using Tex. Tucker always was attracted to Tex, he cared about her, and the fact that she was being decieved filled him with rage.

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END OF FLASHBACK

Tucker was going to tell Church off that day, but when he ended up leaving his room the black haired teen had gotten a call and rushed off. He also planned on making a move on Tex, but when he met up with her a couple days later they got a call from Caboose who said that Church was gone, that his house was empty and him and his family weren't anywhere to be found. Tex was too upset at first for Tucker to even think about making a move on her but then after a couple months he finally did, and it worked out... Well at least he thought it had.

Now Church was back, and him and Tex had started their 'relationship' again. Tucker wasn't entirely positive if Church even had feelings for her. The way he was acting at the moment seemed to dictate otherwise, he still seemed to have an interest in Caboose. Tucker shook off the thoughts, it could be entirely possible that Church loved Tex, it's silly to think he'd like Caboose over her... but there was that nagging feeling in the back of his mind that told him otherwise.

Tucker got out of his car, trying his best to forget about why Church had left and whether or not he liked Tex. He walked into the school and searched for his friends. He found Church at his locker with Caboose, who was excitedly chatting away. 'Surprising.' Tucker thought to himself sarcastically. You would think that from the tone of Church's voice when he replied to Caboose's multitude of questions he was annoyed and pissed off but the small smile he had on his face told Tucker otherwise.

"Hey guys." Tucker said as he approached the two, they both turned around to look at him.

"Hey Tucker!" Caboose said happily, Church on the other hand said a small 'hey' and went back to focusing on putting stuff away in his locker. Tucker eyes narrowed when he noticed the faintest smile on Church's face when Caboose went back to chatting away. His question had been answered and he didn't even have to ask. Sure it wasn't too much evidence to go off of but it was enough for him to safely assume that Church did still like Caboose like that. The bell rang and the said black haired teen slammed his locker shut, he looked over to both Caboose and Tucker.

"Don't follow me, I want to be alone." Church said and with that walked off, Tucker shared a glance with Caboose. The black haired teen seemed perfectly fine with the company before yet now he wanted to be alone. Tucker noticed that Church had some... mood swings... Ever since he came back, but he never realized Church was this much of an introvert now. Tucker guessed it wouldn't last for long though, Church would crack and get back to his usual self soon. Caboose started walking in the direction Church went and Tucker quickly stopped him.

"What are you doing? He said not to follow him." He said sternly, Caboose just smiled in return.

"I'm his best friend, he won't get mad at me." The blonde said, Tucker rolled his eyes. 'Not this again.'

"Caboose, for the last time, you aren't Church's best friend. I am." He said, Caboose pouted but before he could respond Tucker walked away. He didn't want to deal with that right now. It was true, Caboose was not Church's best friend for two simple reasons, he irritated the hell out of Church, and Church seemed to like him in a ... different way. Tucker started walking to his classroom, he had math next, and Tex was in his math class so it was tolerable. He was stopped in his tracks when he went passed the science room and saw Church at Tex's locker... making out with her. Tucker got pissed, he couldn't stand seeing this. Tex was so oblivious to the fact Church was using her, he probably didn't even care about her. The only person he seemed to care about was Caboose. Tucker wanted to push them apart, out his friend and tell Tex his suspicions but instead he just sighed and walked away, he couldn't do that to Tex, she'd be devestated and Church would be pissed. Obviously he wasn't ready to admit his feelings for Caboose, whatever they were. Tucker decided he'd just bite his tongue and not stick his nose in other people's business.

************************************************** ******

Church walked into his science class only to be met by an excited Caboose, the black haired teen sighed to himself, already knowing he'd have a head ache by the end of the class. He didn't even know how Caboose got in the class without him noticing, he was in front of the class with Tex... Oh, that's why he didn't notice, he was with Tex. A part of Church was annoyed that Caboose was in his class, but another part of him was quite happy. He tried to shake off his thoughts, he didn't want to be happy just by the fact he got to send time with Caboose, it was ridiculous, but these feelings were coming back, the feelings he had hoped he left behind months ago.

"Hey Church! I didn't know you were going to be in this class!" Caboose chirped, snapping Church out of his thoughts. The black haired teen sighed in annoyance and sat down at a random seat in the back of the room, hoping no one would bother him, but Caboose came over and took the seat next to him.

"We're doing a lab today, maybe the teacher lady will make us lab partners... Since you just came back you don't have on and I don't have one either." Caboose said excitedly. Church really hoped that didn't happen, yes Caboose was his friend, but spending a ton of time with him definitely will not be good for the feelings he had forming for the blonde. The teacher walked into the room, she was young and had black hair that was up in a bun, wore long tan pants, and a white blouse. Church could tell that a lot of the guys were swooning over her, but he didn't really know why. She was pretty and all but not that big of a deal. Church grumbled to himself, he hated to admit it but it had been a long time since he was actually attracted to a girl and it seemed no matter how many good looking girls he saw all he thought was 'Meh.' He didn't feel anything. Hell he didn't even feel attracted to Tex, and she was one of the best looking girls in the school. Maybe it was a sign of detatchment after everything that happened in the past seven months, but this had started months before he left. Church looked next to him at Caboose, he blamed the blonde for all of this.

"Today we're going to work with our lab partners and find the amount of energy given off when certain items are bunred." The teacher said handing out the lab directions, she stopped when she got to Church.

"Leonard, you and Michael are going to be lab partners for the year." She said. Despite Church's previous annoyance his heart skipped a beat. He mentally slapped himself. 'No, I have a girlfriend.' Church told himself. He was snapped out o fhis thoughts when Caboose grabbed Church's wrist and dragged him to the lab tables, even after all the years they knew eachother the blondes strength still surprised Church.

"Calm down Caboose." The black haired teen said sternly as he snapped his wrist away from the blonde and rubbed it until it wasn't sore anymore. Caboose muttered an apology and looked down at the floor.

"It's ok... Just don't do that again." Church said and with that the two got to work. Caboose wasn't much of a help, more of a destructive destraction, but the two got the lab done and now were at their desks working on the report. Church had been trying to explain everything to Caboose but the blonde seemed just totally confused, wasn't too surprising though since Caboose definitely was not the brightest guy around.

"You aren't getting any of this are you?" Church asked with a frustrated sigh, it had been the fiftieth time he explained this to Caboose and the blonde still looked confused.

"Nope." Caboose said as he stared down at his paper completely and utterly lost. Church bit his lip for a moment, internally debating something.

"I can tutor you if you want." He said, Caboose was his friend so he decided he should help him. There was no other reason for his offer. None at all. It's not like he actually wanted to spend time alone with Caboose. Nope. Just wanted to help the dumbass out.

"Really, you'd do that for me?!" That would be awesome!" Caboose exclaimed, he then pulled Church into a hug.

"Thank you!" Caboose said, Church let out a small laugh and attempted to pry the blonde off of him.

"Alright that's enough buddy." The black haired teen said embarrassed as he noticed people around the classroom giving them weird stares. Church finally got Caboose off of him and looked back down at his work, hoping the blonde didn't notice his blush, he really didn't need the blonde up on his case about that. The black hared teen was relieved when the bell rang, he shot up from his seat and left the classroom only to be stopped by Tex.

"Hey." Church said, unsure why the red head was waiting for him, she just smiled.

"Hi, just wanted to let you know we're going to a party tonight." Tex said, Church groaned.

"I don't really-" The black haired teen was cut off before he could even object.

"You're coming, end of story." Tex said sternly, Church sighed.

"...Fine..." He said, he really didn't want to go to a party. He used to love them, that was months ago, when everything was fine, but now... he didn't want to spend time with people, even if they were cool. He just wanted to be alone, but there was not much he could say to Tex, she obviously was set on him coming along.

"Okay, good. See you later babe." The red head said, she gave Church a small kiss before walking off. The black haired teen sighed, he hated when Tex forced him to do stuff like this. To be honest, there wasn't much he liked about Tex. Church was cut out of his thoughts when Caboose came up next to him.

"Why do you put up with her?" The blonde asked, practically reading Church's mind. The black hair teen had to think about this, he didn't know why he was with her, he didn't exactly like her... but Tex was like a drug, you just couldn't say no to her.

"I guess... I'd rather have someone there for me than be all alone." Church said with a shrug starting to walk off.

"But she's not really ever there for you." Caboose pointed out, Church sighed.

"Yeah... I know..." He said defeated, it was true, and the worst part of this all was it was getting the black haired teen's feeligns all mixed up. Why did Caboose even care? Church shook off his thoughts and walked away going to his next class and leaving Caboose behind.

************************************************** ************

Church groaned as he leaned up against the wall, he was with Tex at the party... well not really with Tex since she had left Church to go converse with some of her other friends. Typical of her. Church had realized fairly quickly why she had wanted him to come along, one because he had a car and could drive her, and two she wanted to show off the fact that they were together again. Church was basically the jack ass of the school, he'd beat up the nerds and anyone who pissed him off, an somehow he managed to get a large group of... fangirls, you could say. And well, Tex being Tex, loved to point out she was better than everyone else, so now that Church was back she could relish in her glory of having him all over again.

Church rolled his eyes, he knew that part of Tex was using him but didn't care, the thing he did care about was the fact that part of her actually really liked him. That was what Church felt bad about. He knew that he didn't like her anywhere close to how much she actually cared about him, though she may not admit her feelings too often. He knew that even though she may use him for money, rides, or even highschool fame, he was using her a lot more. Church didn't even really like her, sure he may have loved her long ago, but now... He didn't feel for her in that way. He just stayed with her because he had no one else. He didn't want to be alone in that sense, and Tex was the one who just happened to be there.

Church noticed Washington standing alone near him, the brunette had his hair cut short and was wearing a brown t-shirt with jeans, his green eyes were fixated on someone in the crowd of people, but Church couldn't see who.

"Hey." The black haired teen said. Wash was a cool guy, sure he was dorky before and Church had beat him up a couple of times, but he climbed the social tower a little after Connie, his ex, left. To be honest, Church felt bad about being such a jerk to Washington before, but at the time he had a reputation to uphold, he was the bad boy. Church shook his head, he still is the bad boy, he tried to reassure himself nothing had changed, people still saw him as that, but he couldn't help but feel that everything changed, and he was nothing but wimp now.

"Hi." Washington replied, snapping Church out of his thoughts. Something about the brunette's tone told the black hair teen that something was wrong.

"You ok?" Church asked, eyeing him suspiciously, Wash shrugged.

"Yeah, just a little irritated." He replied, crossing his arms. Church tilted his head slightly as if to say 'go on.'

"I came here with Carolina but she pretty much just left me to go hang out with York." Wash said. Church nodded now understanding. Carolina and York were dating , they had been for years, but it wasn't a secret that Washington had a crush on Carolina.

"Have you told her yet?" Church asked, Washington shook his head.

"No, I don't have the guts to. Anyway, Yorks a nice guy." The brunette said, Church laughed a little.

"Yeah, he's a nice guy, yet he cheated on Carolina last year." He said, Washington scowled remembering the incident.

"Yeah, with your girlfriend none the less. No offense but she's kinda a..." Wash trailed off, not sure of a nice way to say it.

"A slut? Yeah I know." Church said with a laugh. It was true, Tex got around. Last school year before Church started going out with Tex, she slept with a very drunk York. Carolina was pissed, which birthered her hatred of Tex. Carolina somehow managed to forgive York, but never talked to Tex after that... and to think the two had been best friends. Church honestly didn't know how Carolina could forgive York, if that ever happened to him he'd be pissed.

"You should just tell her. Even if she doesn't like you at least she'll know." Church said, he patted Washington's back before walking off to find Tex. All the talk about cheating got him a little worried. So what, even if he didn't love her he could still be protective of her, she was his girlfriend, he had a right. As he was going to find Tex someone pushed him over and walked by, he quickly snapped around.

"What the hell man?" Church asked angrily, the man froze and turned around, the black haired teen grumbled to himself, it was Grif.

"Fancy seeing you here asshole." The ginger said, Church crossed his arms.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" He asked, Grif shrugged.

"Just thought I'd check this party out." He said smugly. Church pushed him aside and started walking off.

"I doubt you were invited here so fuck off." The black haired teen said.

"I'm surprised you aren't here with Caboose." Church froze and turned around.

"What?" He asked angrily. What could Grif possibly be getting at?

"You two have been inseperable since you came back, so I just thought... Well you know." Grif responded, Church pushed the ginger onto the wall.

"No, I don't know." The black haired teen said. Grif winced and glared at him for a moment before smiling.

"Oh, come on. It's obvious you prefer him a lot more than Tex." The ginger said, Church backed up a little, letting go of Grif. Had that lazy ass actually have figured out his feelings for Caboose? Was it really that obvious. Grif laughed and walked away, Church fumed in anger now realizing what the ginger had been trying to do. Install the fear that his secret was going to be found out by everyone... That it already had been found out. Church had no clue how Grif found out about his feelings for Caboose but just shook it all off and walked outside to the back of the house. He was not going to be bothered by this, then that mother fucker would've won. Church ran a hand through his hair before sliding down against the side of the house.

"Want one?" Church looked up next to him to see O'malley holding a cigarette out to him. A shiver went down the black haired teen's spine, Church may have been the asshole of the school but O'malley was the total physcopath, no one messed around with him. Church grabbed the cigarette, he didn't smoke, but... he was not going to say no to O'malley, he did not need that to be added to his problems. Anyways, cigarettes are said to relieve stress, so that could help Church's anxiety. Just one wouldn't hurt.

"Uh, thanks." Church said, O'malley handed him the lighter, he took it and lit the cigarette before handing it back. Church held the cigarette up to his lips and took a breath, he almost choked.

"Don't worry, the more you take in, the better it gets." O'malley said with a laugh as he patted Church's back. The black haired teen couldn't help but feel slightly confused as to why O'malley was even talking to him. He shook it off and took another breath, this time only coughing a little.

"You should've kicked his head in." Church looked at O'malley confused.

"What?" He asked, O'malley laughed before speakind up again.

"If I were you I would've taught that fat ass a lesson he'd never forget." The black haired teen laughed a little at the image of him beating Grif up. He took another breath of the cigarette, it was now getting a lot easier and relaxing.

"Yeah, but if I took things to that level the police would probably get involved and I don't need that." Church said.

"You're the bad ass bully in the school, you can't just let people get away with stuff like that." O'malley exclaimed, he took a sip of beer before he spoke up again.

"You need to unleash your anger. If you don't it's just going to build up and people are going to start pushing you around-" O'malley was cut off when Tex came storming over.

"Church, get up." The red head said angrily. Church did what she said, Tex then grabbed his arm and dragged him to the car.

"What the hell were you doing? And why the hell are you smoking?!" She asked, Church wasn't shocked that she was pissed off. Tex is practically always pissed off.

"I went outside and O'malley gave me a cigarette, we just ended up talking about some stuff." Church said with a shrug, he didn't understand why the smoking was a big deal since Tex smoked before.

"Church, I told you before not to talk to O'malley." The red head exclaimed as she got in the car. Church walked over to the drivers side and entered the car.

"Why because he's your ex boyfriend?" The black haired teen asked sarcastically, Tex shook her head.

"No, because he's a fucking physcopath! You should know that by know after how many years you went to school with him. Just promise me you'll stay away from him okay? He's bad news." She said, Church sighed, he glanced at her before turning his gaze to the road and started driving.

"Fine, I won't talk to him... I promise." Church said. He didn't understand what the big deal was. O'malley didn't actually seem that bad, but Tex knew him best, so he should just listen to her. Church let his mind wander, as much as he didn't want to be he was excited for tomorrow, he got to tutor Caboose. Church made a mental note to himself to hide his emotions better, he didn't want more of his enemies like Grif to get dirt on him.


	3. Chapter 3

Church waited outside the school for Caboose, the two were going to meet up so Church could tutor him. To be honest the black haired teen was pretty excited, hanging out with Caboose was fun, he didn't have to worry about being judged, he could just be himself. It wasn't too long until Caboose came running out of the school and bounding towards the black haired teen.

"Hi Church!" Caboose exclaimed happily.

"Hey... You're pretty excited." Church said, eyeing the blonde suspcisiously. Sure Caboose loved everything, but this was learning... after school. No one could possibly like that.

"Well yeah... I get to spend time with my best friend!" The blonde exclaimed, Church blushed a little and smiled. His happiness didn't last long since Grif walked by chuckling and giving him a smug look. Church shot him a glare before turning back to Caboose.

"So are we going to your house?" The black haired teen asked as he started walking to his car.

"Well actually, I was hoping we could go to your apartment, my sisters are home so it's a little crazy at my house." Caboose said, Church froze right as he was about to get into the car.  
"Uh... I'm sure your house isn't that hectic. Let's just go there, it will be fine." The black haired teen said nervously. To be honest he knew for a fact that if Caboose's sisters were home they wouldn't get anything done. It's not that they were annoying or anything just if you get into a conversation with them, which was practically impossible to avoid, you would totally get side tracked, not to mention that the three siblings tended to fight a lot. Caboose shook his head.

"No, we wouldn't be able to study at all if we went to my house. Anyways I haven't seen your mom in a while." Caboose said. Everyone loved Church's mom, she was really nice. Caboose looked over at Church, who let out a shaky breath, he was staring at the steering wheel deep in thoought. The blonde was about to ask what was wrong but Church seemed to snap himself out of his own thoughts.

"Fine." The black haired teen said, Caboose could've sworn he heard a hint of sadness in his voice, though it was overlaced by frustration not at Caboose but at something else. Church started the car and drove off, it took about six minutes to get to the apartment complex. The black haired teen got out of the car and muttered a 'follow me' before walking off. Caboose did what he was told and followed his best friend, he was a bit curious as to why Church lived here, it wasn't a terrible place or anything, just not someone's first choice to live... or second... or tenth. Okay, maybe it was a bit crummy. The two walked up to the third floor and stopped at the second door, Church grabbed his keys out of his pocket. Caboose was shocked when the door was open. The apartment was practically empty. In the 'living room' there was a small couch sitting in front of an old TV, a gaming console hooked up to it. The kitchen had a small table with tho chairs, a crummy fridge, stove, and a couple cabinets. Caboose could see a small bathroom and a bedroom next to it. The thing that stuck the blonde the most was that no one was there, not Church's mom, or dad. No one.

"Church?" Caboose asked, the black haired teen calmly dropped his bag next to the door, he ignored Caboose and acted like nothing was wrong.

"Where's your-" Caboose started but Church cut him off.

"We aren't talking about this." He said as he started fishing something out of his pocket.

"But Church-" Church gave Caboose a stern look which made him shut up. He then held up a cigarette and lit it.

"I didn't know you smoked." Caboose said, he didn't really agree with that, especially since they were 16. The black haired teen sighed.

"It's a new thing." Church said after taking a breath from the cigarette. Caboose realized just now how tired his friend looked, he seemed like he hadn't had a good sleep in ages. His black hair was a bit messy, his eyes looked tired, and his skin was a pasty white. The blonde started to worry for Church, something was wrong, and he had to find out what, but it seemed Church didn't want to talk about it so getting answers would be hard. Church started rummaging through his bag until he grabbed a notebook, he then went over to the couch.

"Okay, let's get started." He said, Caboose nodded and joined the black haired teen on the couch. The two worked for hours, Church explained everything and Caboose tried his best to understand. Surprisingly Church didn't get too irritated when he had to repeat something, instead he just calmly went over it again.

"So do you understand this?" Church asked after going over an equation.

"I think so..." Caboose said, biting his lower lip, Church looked over at the blonde who seemed a bit distracted, he was about to ask what was wrong but got his answer when Caboose's stomach growled.

"Dude, you could've told me you were hungry." Church said with a laugh.

"I didn't want to be rude!" The blonde exclaimed embarrassed. Church got up from where he was sitting and stretched.

"That's not rude... There's a pizza place walking distance from here, want to go eat there?" The black haired teen asked.

"Sure." Caboose said as he got up from where he was sitting. The two then left the appartment and walked to the pizza shop.

************************************************** ***************************

"Remember the time we pulled that prank on Tucker when we were 14?" Caboose asked laughing, him and Church were at the pizza place reminiscing and joking around. The black haired teen's mood seemed to change drastically and he was happy again, but Caboose knew that could change, his moods seemed to change a lot lately.

"Yes! He was so pissed! It was hilarious!" Church said taking a bite of his pizza.

"Were you dating Tex then?" Caboose asked, Church shook his head.

"Nope, those were the good old days." He said back in his chair.

"You know... She's not a good influence on you." Caboose said, Church nodded.

"Yeah, I know." He said, whenever he was around Tex he was a complete ass to everyone. Caboose looked up at his friend nervously.

"Do you... Do you love her?" The blonde asked quietly, Church laughed.

"Hell no! I mean, I care about her but not in any way like that." He said.

"If you don't like her like that then why are you with her? Why don't you find someone you do love?" Caboose asked, Church sighed.

"Honestly, I don't know if I can be with someone I love... I don't know if I can trust them. Anyways, I'd rather be with someone I don't love than get hurt going after the person I do." Church said. Caboose realized that whatever happened in the seven months he was gone left him with a ton of problems. The blonde then perked up realizing what Church said, he had just stated he didn't want to go over the person he loved because he didn't want to get hurt. He just admitted there's someone he loves. A little glimpse of hope welled up inside of him but he shook it off, no Church would never like me like that. Church got up and threw away all the trash, they had paid for the pizza already so they were all ready to go. The two walked out of the pizza shop and started walking down the side walk, chatting about school and what not. They were stopped in their tracks when someone came up behind them.

"Excuse me." Church froze, unsure who could want to talk to them. Fear ran through him as he thought he might be recognized, he put his hood on before turning around only to be met by a cop. He wore the normal black uniform and had a buzz cut, he wore glasses that hid his eyes, so it was harder to tell what he was thinking.

"Uh, hi." Caboose said in his usual friendly manner.

"Do your parents know you're out this late?" The police officer asked, Church rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"It's only 8pm." He said flatly, Caboose flashed him a nervous glance before turning back to the cop.

"Yes, our parents know we're out now." The blonde said, he didn't want to get in trouble. The officer looked towards Church and narrowed his eyes.

"Can you take off the hood?" He asked, the black haired teen stiffened. The cop couldn't possibly be on to him.

"Can you-" Caboose covered Church's mouth to keep him from snapping at the cop and getting the two in trouble.

"Just take the hood off... please..." Caboose whispered. Church sighed, he couldn't say no to the blonde, and there was no way out of this situation anyways. The black haired teen slowly took off his hood, the cop looked at him for a couple moments before speaking up.

"You know, you look really familiar." He said, crossing his arms with a smile on his face.

"That's weird, there's no way you could possibly know me, I just moved here." Church said, he couldn't believe it. The cop recognized him. The fucking cop realized who he was!

"Alright, I want you two just sit here for a moment." The police officer said before walking towards his car. Caboose looked over at Church, worry written over his face, but the black haired teen ignored it, he was too caught up in his own thoughts. He was trying to listen in to what the cop was saying, and that's when he heard it.

"I found this missing kid." Church shook his head, no... NO. How... Why... He backed up a little.

"I didn't think he'd actually look for me." Church said under his breath, Caboose looked over to him.

"What?" The blonde asked. Church grabbed Caboose's arm and started dragging him off.

"Come on." He said. He couldn't stay there, he didn't know what would happen if he did but he had a feeling it would be bad. They'd probably call that monster.

"But the cop told us to stay put." Caboose said, not knowing what was wrong. Church just shook his head and continued walking without a word. The two didn't talk until they reached the apartment, that's when Caboose snatched his arm away.

"Church what's going on?!" He asked.

"It's nothing." Church said without even looking at Caboose.

"Obviously it it something Church!" The blonde yelled, shocking Church. The black haired teen turned to look at him.

"Church, why's your house practically empty? Where is everyone? And why did the cop say he found the 'missing kid'?!" Caboose asked, Church winced, he really hoped the blonde hadn't heard that. He sighed, knowing he'd have to answer the questions.

"I... I ran away." Church said quiet enough for Caboose to hear, he turned around and opened the door to his house, the blonde grabbed his wrist, obviously wanting to ask more questions.

"What do you mean you ran away?!" Caboose asked, Church rolled his eyes.

"I packed up my stuff, got an apartment and as much furniture as possible with my savings, and came back here... Without telling anyone." He said bitterly.

"But what about your mom? She love's you-" Caboose was cut off by Church.

"My mom's dead Caboose!" He lashed out, the blonde's eyes widened. Church sighed and looked down at the floor.

"Remember the day before I left... When we had that sleep over at Tucker's... I got a phone call and rushed off immediately. The reason behind that was that her doctor called and told me she was dying." The black haired teen said, his voice quavered a bit.

"H-How?" Caboose asked, Church looked up at the blonde, the sadness in his eyes was practically overwhelming.

"She had been sick for months, I knew it was coming, but still I wasn't ready for it." The black haired teen said, Caboose did the only thing he could and pulled Church into a hug. The black haired teen wrapped his arms around Caboose's neck, he held back any tears he had. He was NOT going to cry in front of the blonde, not now or ever.

"So why'd you leave your dad?" Caboose asked, he guessed it was something bad when Church's grip tightened on him.

"Can we just not talk about this?" The black haired teen asked quietly, Caboose sighed and stayed quiet, deciding to leave it alone for now. What ever it was must've been bad though if Church refused to talk about it. After a couple of moments Church backed out of the hug, a little to Caboose's disappointment.

"Come on, let's go play video games." The black haired teen said, Caboose nodded and flashed Church a smile, even though he was worried, he didn't want to upset Church more. It was his job to make him happy again. The two walked over to the couch, Church turned on the xbox and inserted Halo (HA, See what I did there XD) The two played for hours, Church had quickly gotten back to normal acting like nothing happened. Now the black haired teen was practically falling asleep, Caboose turned off the xbox and turned to Church.

"We're both getting tired, I should probably go home." He said, Church yawned and shook his head.

"It's 1 in the morning, we're both too tired to drive. Just spend the night here." The black haired teen said as he got grabbed a blanket that was resting on the back of the couch.

"Are you sure?" Caboose asked, blushing slightly thinking about spending the night at Church's house... alone.

"Yeah, I'm positive." Church said, he threw the blanket over the two of them and then turned the TV on to watch a movie. Caboose smiled, it wasn't too long after that Church fell asleep, leaning on the blonde. Caboose blushed a little and put an arm around the black haired teen. Maybe he really did have a chance with Church. Even if he didin't, he was happy to be his best friend, happy to be there for him. The blonde felt arms wrap around him and laughed a little, he knew Church was asleep and didn't realize what he was doing but it was still adorable. Caboose could feel himself drift off into sleep, he looked down at Church, for a moment he thought he saw scars on his friends arms underneath his sweatshirt, but the blonde dismissed it, he was probably just seeing stuff. Not too long after that Caboose fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Church opened his eyes, for the first time in months he hadn't had a nightmare, he looked around to find himself on the couch. After a moment of panic the teen remembered he had fallen asleep on the couch with Caboose, he blushed a little realizing he had basically fell asleep snuggled up to his friend. Speaking of Caboose, Church had no clue where the blonde was. 'He wouldn't have left would he?" Church asked himself a little disappointed, before he could get to worrying the smell of french toast hit him.

The black haired teen got up and stretched before walking to the kitchen, he made a mental note to himself to not make the mistake of falling asleep on the couch again, he preffered not to be in pain when he woke up. When Church got to the kitchen he found Caboose cooking at the stove, the black haired teen leaned against the door way and smiled.

"What are you doing?" Church asked with a laugh, Caboose jumped, he had not realized Church had woken up. After a couple moments he smiled.

"Well, I was hungry, and I thought you'd probably be hungry when you wake up, so I decided to make breakfast." Caboose said cheerily as he started putting the french toast on two plates.

"You didn't have to do that you know." Church said, he appreciated it and all, but he felt bad since Caboose was his guest.

"I know, but I wanted to." The blonde told him, he then placed the plates at the table. Church grabbed cups and got them both drinks before sitting down. The two started eating, Caboose was one hell of a cook, the french toast was amazing.

Every once in a while Church would catch the blonde staring at him, he couldn't help but blush under Caboose's gaze. The black haired teen hated himself, he hated that the feelings for his friend weren't going away, the more than friend feelings. To be honest Church had thought and hoped they were gone when he left, but obviously they weren't. Some how throughout all the hell he went through in the seven months he was gone he still managed to keep these feelings, he managed to keep a bit of happiness. As obvious as it was to what those feelings were though, Church still didn't want to admit it, sure he'll acknowledge the feelings but he will not accept them and he definitely won't say that he's... that he has a crush on... The black haired teen shook his head, he shouldn't be thinking about this right now, especially since Caboose was right there in front of him.

"This is really good." Church said, trying to start a conversation, anything to get his mind off of those feelings. He then took another bite of the french toast. Caboose had always been good at cooking, his mom had taught him. Church avoided thinking about his own mother, he couldn't, if he did he'd break down and he just couldn't do that in front of Caboose.

"Thanks." Caboose chirped, a goofy smile plastered on his face. He paused for a moment before speaking up again.

"Church, I need to ask you something." The blonde said, his smile no longer evident on his face. Church looked up at him, waiting for Caboose to speak up again.

"Why did you run away?" Caboose asked, Church grumbled. Why did the blonde have to be so persistant? Why couldn't he just leave it alone?

"I just didn't want to live with my dad anymore." The black haired teen said casually with a shrug.

"That's not a good answer Church. Something had to have happened if you refuse to talk about it." Caboose said sternly. Church clenched his hands into fists, trying to hold back his growing anger.

"Caboose, just leave it alone." He said through clenched teeth, he did not want to talk about this. Why couldn't Caboose understand that? The blonde seemed to ignore him and continue with what he was saying.

"I thought you and your dad got along. I don't understand why you would leave, he was a nice guy-" Before Caboose could go any further in his rant Church cut him off.

"He was NOT a nice guy!" He yelled, the blonde was shocked to see rage burning in Church's eyes. The black haired teen seemed to realize very quickly that he had lost his temper and snapped at his friend, he closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair with a sigh.

'Listen, Caboose... There's a reason I don't want to talk about this, so can we just get off of this topic? I'm really not ready to tell anyone what happened right now." Church said, Caboose looked at him worried but gave a small nod, whatever happened must've been bad, it must've been really bad. Caboose felt like there was some progress though, Church said he wasn't ready to talk about it now, meaning he will be later, so the blonde just had to be patient and then he'd get some answers.

"So what's changed since I left?" Church asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Well, a few new restaraunts opened up... We got a new bowling alley." Caboose said scratching the back of his head as he was trying to think.

"You haven't done any cool things with Tucker?" Church asked, the three used to all get into trouble and do crazy shit, it was pretty entertaining.

"Actually no, I haven't really hung out with him since the Halloween party." Caboose replied. Church looked at the blonde in confusion.

"Why?" He asked, wondering what happened at the party.

"We got in a fight after I confronted him about what he did with Tex." Caboose said taking a sip of his orange juice. Church looked at him wide eyed.

"Caboose, what DID Tucker do with Tex?" The black haired teen asked, Caboose looked at him worried.

"She told you about what happened... right?" He asked, Church searched the blondes face.

"No, she didn't. What are you talking about? What did those two do?!" Church asked, Caboose looked at him wide eyed, in shock that Tex never mentioned this to her boyfriend. He took a deep breath before he spoke up, bracing himself for Church's response.

"Tex and Tucker hooked up when you were gone..." Caboose said, the black haired teen's mouth dropped open, he tried to find words to say but couldn't. He was completely shocked.

"They... They slept together?" Church asked, his voice quiet, Caboose slowly nodded. Before Church could even fully process this an alarm on his phone started ringing, he fished the phone out of his pocket and turned it off. He sighed and sat up, shaking his head slightly.

"I have to go to work." Church muttered, Caboose tilted his head slightly.

"You have a job?" The blonde asked a little surprised as Church started to gather his stuff together.

"Yeah, I work at Gamestop." The black hair teen said, Caboose was honestly surprised, he hadn't expected Church to have a job. Especially since he... wasn't the social type. Church walked open to the door and opened it before turning back to the blonde.

"I don't mean to be mean, but I have to go to work, so you're going to have to leave." Church said, Caboose nodded and walked over to him.

"Are you going to be okay?" He asked, Church nodded.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be... I was never in love with Tex anyway..." The black haired teen said.

"But what she did, it still crosses the line, and I know it hurts." Caboose said, Church looked away from him.

"If you need to talk let me know." The blonde said walking into the hallway, Church sighed and closed the door.

"Yeah... Okay." He said before walking away. Caboose sighed, he just caused un needed drama, but still, if he had known Tex didn't tell Church he still would've mentioned what happened... but in a better way. Church didn't deserve to be cheated on, he didn't deserve to be betrayed by his girlfriend and friend he's had for years.

Church leaned on the front desk, today had been a slow day at work which sucked because it was the one time the black haired teen really needed a distraction. He couldn't believe what Caboose had told him... Tex had cheated on him... And with none other than his best friend Tucker. There was a mix of emotions that were going through him, anger, betrayal, even a bit of sadness. Sure he didn't have a lot of feelings for Tex, but the fact that she did that when he was gone was still upsetting, they were together for fucks sake! You didn't see Church cheating on Tex, and honestly he had a lot of chances to. He stayed loyal, he even was denying feelings for Caboose to try and stay a good boyfriend. It was wrong, everything about that was totally fucking wrong. Church knew Tex didn't even like Tucker, not like that, she just enjoyed getting around. He couldn't help but feel that was unfair, he actually liked Caboose yet he never did ANYTHING, meanwhile Tex is fooling around with every guy she meets... Okay, maybe that's an exagerration. Sure Tex had got around before, but she was loyal most of the time she dated Church, this being the only time she wasn't. But why out of all the people did she have to do that with Tucker?! And why would Tucker do that with her knowing full well that they were together?! The only answer Church could come up with was that they were both two timing assholes.

The worst part about all of this was the fact that his feelings for Caboose somehow managed to grow. He had no clue how but they just did. Maybe it was the fact that Caboose seemed to actually be there for him, Church could trust him unlike everyone else. The black haired teen sighed, there really was no way for him to get over these feelings, and now he had two choices, either ignore them or embrace them. Church knew what he wanted, to break up with Tex and somehow manage to be with Caboose, to be in a relationship with him, but at the same time his fears were getting in the way. He didn't want to be alone, not right now when he was still trying to get over what happened in the past seven months, if he left Tex... He may stay alone. There was no concrete evidence that Caboose actually liked him like that, if Church told the blonde his feelings there was a chance that they wouldn't be recipricated, and Church really didn't want to add heartbroken to his list of problems.

The black haired teen was cut out of his thoughts when there was a familiar ding with the sound of the door opening. Church looked towards the entrance of the store and groaned to himself, not by the fact that two people had came in the store and now he'd have to deal with them, but who the people were pissed him off. Grif and Simmons. This really wasn't going to make his day any better.

"Look who it is." Grif said in a smug manner, Church rolled his eyes.

"What the hell do you guys want?" He asked, all he wanted was for the two to leave so he didn't have to deal with Grif's shit.

"We want a game, what do you think?" Grif asked, in a matter of fact tone. Church sighed to himself, silently admitting that was a stupid question to ask when two people walked into a video game store.

"I can't believe they gave YOU a job here. You're like the least social person in town." Grif said humourously. Church crossed his arms, he could already feel a head ache coming on. The black haired teen just wanted to go home and seclude himself away from the world, he was done with everyone's shit.

"Yeah, well they're a bit lieniant here." Church responded, annoyance laced throughout his voice. He was hoping the two would get the hint and leave, but of course they didn't... or at least, they didn't care. Church couldn't do anything to them at the moment, so they were safe.

"But you're a jackass." Simmons piped in, he said it a bit quietly as if not wanting Church to hear it, Grif laughed and the black haired teen just glared at them.

"And you two are fags, glad we got that established." Church said. Honestly, that was just a rumor going around, but he had a feeling that it was true. Simmons and Grif spent waaaayyy too much time together to be 'just friends' there had to be something going on there. The fact that neither one denied it just made it more obvious that there was some truth to it. Both teens in front of him froze for a moment, but then Grif burst into laughter.

"HA, is that really your comeback?!" He asked, Church glared at him. Simmons seemed to shrink back away from the two, not wanting to get involved.

"What's so funny about that?" The black haired teen asked. Grif seemed to calm down his laughing, he stood up straight and wiped a tear out of his eye.

"Well, it's just that, you're not really in the right place to call us fags if you know what I mean." The ginger said.

"No... I don't." Church responded, he just wanted Grif to spit it out.

"You're gay." The black haired teen froze.

"WHAT?!" Church asked, he could feel his face heating up. Grif just stared at him with a small smile forming on his face.

"It's obvious that you like Caboose." He said, Church shook his head.

"N-No... No, I don't." The black haired teen said, Grif walked over to the counter.

"Did he stay over last night?" The ginger asked, Church almost forgot that Grif had seen the two meet up after school, still he didn't know how he could assume that.

"Friends spend the night at eachothers houses all the time, it's not a big deal." Church said, trying to brush it off.

"Did you let him sleep in your room?" Grif asked.

"No, he slept on the couch." Church responded, he didn't know why he was answering these questions, but something had struck with the whole 'you're gay' thing and he wanted to prove Grif wrong... even if he actually was right.

"Where did you sleep?" Grif asked, he was really persistent, for some reason he seemed to want Church to admit to this. The black haired teen froze, blush forming on his face, Grif had caught him, he cleared his throat before answering.

"...On the couch..." Church said quietly, looking away. He made the mistake of returning his gaze back to Grif, who had a smug smile on his face. Church knew he had basically just given the ginger all the proof he needed, and mentally slapped himself for it. The black haired teen tried to hide his anxiety over the fact that Grif knew, but that look bothered him, he felt like he was being looked through... He hated it, Grif was reading him like a fucking book.

"I'm not gay." Church stated, he wasn't sure who he was trying to convince, Grif or himself. Sure he established he had feelings for Caboose but he just couldn't say to himself 'Oh hey, I'm gay, I like guys.' Grif's expression turned to humourous he leaned back away from the desk and muttered a small 'okay', but they both knew that what Church had said was a lie.

"Just buy your fucking games and get out." The black haired teen said angrily, after a couple of moments Simmons came with a game he picked out and Grif pulled out his wallet. Church was relieved when the two left, glad he didn't have to deal with that anymore, but still couldn't shake off his anxiety. What if Grif told other people? Church was always an ass hole to him, they hated eachother. That was the perfect blackmail. 'No, he doesn't know for sure... he has no evidence that that's actually true.' Church told himself. The black haired teen looked at the clock and let out a breath of air he didn't know he was holding in. His shift was over. Now he could just go home and relax.

Church closed up the store and exited the building, he was surpised to be met by Tex. She had been waiting for him, for whatever reason. The black haired teen's shock was quickly replaced by anger when he remebered what Caboose told him. Church knew that now was the perfect time to confront her, no one else was around.

"Hey." Tex said, walking up to him, she went to kiss him but Church backed up.

"What's wrong?" The red head asked noticing Church's anger.

"You slept with Tucker." Church said flatly, he didn't know why he let it slip like that, but he couldn't think of any other way to bring it up without calling her a whore or a slut. Tex froze, like a deer in headlights, obviously not expecting this.

"How did you-" She started but Church cut her off.

"Caboose told me." He said crossing his arms. Tex's shock soon wiped away and she frowned.

"You left without telling anyone..." She stated.

"That still doesn't make it right! We were together!" Church spat, Tex seemed to grow angry with this.

"Well I didn't know you were going to come back!" The red head said defensively.

"So you sleep with one of my best friends?!" Church asked, he was fuming. Tex crossed her arms.

"He was there for me at the time." She said annoyed. The black haired teen groaned, she had no right to be angry at him.

"Yeah, well Caboose is here for me now, does that give me the right to sleep with him?" Church asked trying to make a point. He didn't realize till after he said it how bad of an example that was.

"Church, you know I'm experienced, and I have needs... And it's not a secret that you haven't really tried to satisfy those needs." Tex told him.

"Wait, are you trying to justify what you did by mentioning the fact that I didn't sleep with you?!" Church was beyond pissed now. Yes, he didn't sleep with Tex, he was still a virgin, and the fact that she just threw that out there bugged him.

"All I'm saying is that you shouldn't be mad!" Tex responded. That was it, Church had reached the breaking point.

"I shouldn't be mad. My girlfriend cheated on me with my best friend and I shouldn't be mad?! What the fuck?! You know what, I hope you had fun, and I hope it was fucking worth it. And I'm glad I never slept with you, I wouldn't want to fucking catch something from a slut like you!" Church spat, Tex slapped him, obviosuly fuming too.

"Well you know what, I didn't sleep with an asshole like you! And I can't believe you're freaking out about this, you were gone for SEVEN months! You never responded to my calls, what else was I supposed to think?! So if you want to be a little bitch about this than fine. Go cry to Caboose or something because it's over." The red head said angrily, and with that she walked off. Church stood there shocked for a moment, things had gotten really out of hand... But he was more surprised to say, he was actually happy that they were broken up now.

**Authors Note**

**So I got a few comments on this and I'm not sure if you realize, Grif actually isn't the antagonist. Of anything Church used to be the antagonist, he used to bully Grif. Just wanted to point that out there.  
**


	5. Chapter 5

***Authors Note***  
So who's side are you on? Tex or Church?  
Answer in the comments 3

Caboose walked over to Church's locker, he saw the black haired teen grabbing books and putting them in his bag, he seemed half asleep. Caboose knew what happened, Church and Tex had split up over the weekend. Though Church wasn't really upset he wasn't going out with Tex anymore, he was upset he was alone. He actually seemed to have a lot of anxiety about that for whatever reason. Caboose felt bad, he wished he could just comfort the black haired teen but knew that Church would get pissed, there was no way he had the same feelings for him.

"Hey." Caboose said, the black haired teen shot up, accidently hitting his head on the locker.

"Woah, are you okay?" Caboose asked, Church grabbed his head and stiffled a small laugh.

"Yeah, I'm fine... Just a little tired." He said, looking over at Caboose.

"I can see that." The blonde said, Church looked terrible. He had bags under his eyes, his hair was ruffled messily, and his skin was a sickly white... even more white than his usual pastey color.

"So, plans after school?" Church asked with a yawn, Caboose shrugged.

"No, my sisters are still here though, so I don't know if I want to go home right away." He said, Church nodded.

"We should hang out." The black haired teen said, Caboose smiled, Church wanted to hang out with him. The blonde's smile faded when he remembered how exhausted his friend was right now.

"Are you sure, you should really get some rest... Truthfully I don't think you should even be here now." Caboose said, Church shrugged.

"I'm fine, it's not like I'd get any sleep if I stayed home. Anyways, if I didn't come today Tex would think I'm upset about the break up." He said.

"Why do you care what she thinks?" Caboose asked, Church never cared about what others thought of him.

"It's not that I care what she thinks... It's just that she'd tell everyone else I was upset and I don't want to seem pathetic... Because honestly I'm glad we're broken up." The black haired teen responded, his voice was a bit quiet.

"But there's something bothering you." Caboose said, Church sighed.

"It's just that I don't want to be alone..." He said, Caboose put his hand on Church's shoulder.

"You don't have to be alone, I-" Caboose cut himself off when he saw anger flash through Church's eyes, the blonde turned around to see Tucker walking towards them. Caboose tried his best not to be partially angry, he couldn't take sides, but Tucker was in the wrong with what he did. Caboose shook off his thoughts. Even if he was on Church's side, he couldn't be pissed at Tucker, he was his friend.

"Hey gu-" Tucker started when he reached the two but was cut off when Church slammed his locker shut and stormed off. Tucker looked over at Caboose confused.

"What the fuck was that?" He asked, the blonde just twiddled his thumbs.

"Caboose what happened, why's he pissy at me?" Tucker asked. Caboose sighed.

"I may have... accidently... slipped out the fact that you and Tex slept together..." He responded rubbing his blonde hair, he made the mistake of looking up to see a pissed off Tucker.

"You did what?!" He asked. Caboose backed up a little.

"I thought he knew, I mean really I thought Tex would've told him!" The blonde said defensively, Tucker crossed his arms.

"Why would Tex tell him?! You don't admit to the person you cheated on that you were cheating! It just makes them pissed!" He said angrily.

"It's called being honest. And it's not like hiding it worked, they got in a fight and broke up." Caboose said, he could've sworn he saw Tucker's face light up for a moment, but then he frowned.

"How's Tex?" He asked, Caboose couldn't help but grow angry with this.

"Shouldn't you be asking how Church is since you slept with his girlfriend?! She cheated on him, and you're asking how she is?!" The blonde asked angrily, he knew Tucker liked Tex but seriously, that was messed up. You didn't see him freaking out because Church was now single.

"Church was the one who left for seven months, Caboose. None of us knew he'd come back-" Caboose cut Tucker off.

"But none of us knew he was gone forever either." He said, Tucker rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, obviously we're going to have different views on this since you're Church's little bitch." He said and with that walked off. Caboose just glared, why wouldn't Tucker just admit he was wrong? Why was he supporting Tex throughout all this? The blonde shook his head and walked away, Tucker was right, apparently they were going to have different views on this, and it was practically impossible not to take sides.

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Church walked down the hallway, heading to his next class, he practically yelped when he was pulled aside. He looked to see Tex in front of him, she looked just as tired as him, but Church guessed it was for different reasons. He had been upset about the fact that we was now alone and the nightmares he previously had were getting worse, he felt as if he had no one to protect him from that monster. The worst part was that the monster was searching for him, he even contacted the police to find him. Church shook off the thoughts, he was NOT thinking about this right now, this was the last place he wanted to have another panic attack.

"What do you want?" Church asked Tex, crossing his arms. The red head didn't snap back, instead she just looked up at Church with sad eyes.

"I wanted to talk." Tex stated, Church stayed quiet allowing her to continue. He felt bad, bad for not being upset about this when she was.

"I want to get back together." Tex said, Church blinked.

"You cheated on me." He said, the red head sighed.

"You were gone... If I knew you were coming back I never would've done it." Tex said.

"That still doesn't change the fact you cheated." The red head grumbled slightly.

"We were pretty much seperated at the time Church, can't we just forget about this?" Tex asked, Church started to walk off.

"That's what I'm trying to do." The black haired teen said, he was stopped when Tex grabbed his arm.

"Please." She said, Church sighed, he didn't know why but he turned around. As happy as he was that he was no longer with Tex, he didn't want to hurt her. And it's not there were a line of people lining up to be with him, there was no chance the person he really liked actually felt the same. This way he didn't have to be alone anymore.

"Fine..." Church said, Tex smiled at him and went over to kiss him. The black haired teen backed away from the kiss and instead just hugged her. He knew Tex was probably a little irritated and suspicious as to why he did this but he didn't care. Church did not want to kiss HER.

"I'll be loyal from now on." Tex said, Church just nodded and walked off, he was probably late to class. He groaned to himself, trying to think of how he was going to explain this to Caboose.

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"You what?!" Caboose asked rather loudly. He was walking with Church to lunch and the black haired teen had just told him that he got back with Tex. After she had cheated on him with his friend. He just took her back! To say Caboose was outraged was an understatement.

"She was really upset..." Church started but the blonde cut him off.

"Why would you take her back? You don't even like her!" He said, Church gave him a small shush telling him to lower the volume so they woldn't gain unwanted attention.

"I know, but it's better than being alone... I don't have anyone, at least this way she's happy." Church said quietly, he sounded exhausted both physically and mentally.

"When will you start doing things to make you happy?" Caboose asked, Church looked over at him, trying to find words to say, after a couple moments he looked away, shaking his head and then walking into the lunch room. Caboose groaned and followed behind, he was sick of this. Sick of waiting for Church to realize that he liked him. If he wanted to get with Church he'd have to make it painfully obvious that he had feelings for the black haired teen.

Caboose went over to the lunch table and sat down next to Church who was beside Tex. Tucker sat on the oppisite side of the table next to Kaikaina. The lunch mainly consisted casual talk, about how their day was, classes, a couple jokes here and there. Nothing too eventful. It wasn't until the end of the lunch block that things got interesting.

"So Christmas is coming up soon, why don't we have a party?" Tucker asked, almost everyone seemed to perk up with this, all excluding Caboose and Church. Caboose wasn't really the party type, he'd much rather hanging out with a small group of friends, Church on the other hand was just antisocial... He was turning into a bit of an introvert, no longer good with social situations, he seemed to prefer to just be left alone.

"Yeah, that'd be great!" Kaikaina chirped, she loved to party.

"We could throw it at Church's apartment since no parents are there." Tex said, Church seemed to tense up at this. Caboose expected him to lash out for Tex offering his house as the party spot, but he didn't. Of course. He was submissive to Tex the whole lunch, her little obedient pet. It irritated Caboose, if he was with Church he'd let the black haired teen do what he wanted, he wouldn't control him.

"...Yeah... Sure..." Church said, just looking down at the table. Caboose stared at him, he knew all too well that Church didn't want to have this party, but there was no way he'd say no to Tex. There was a small ringing that shot Caboose out of his thoughts, he saw Church pull his phone out of his pocket. The black haired teen's eyes widened, he shot up from where he was sitting, grasping the phone so hard his knuckles were white.

"I-I'll be right back." Church said, there was a mixture of fear and anger in his voice. Almost moments after he said that he left the lunch room, so fast that for a moment you weren't sure he was even there to begin with.

The rest of the lunch Caboose felt uneasy, Church didn't return at all. When the lunch bell went off Caboose was the first to leave, he had to find Church and make sure everything was okay. The blonde walked down the hallways, hoping to find Church somewhere, he felt his anxiety rising. He knew something was wrong, the look on Church's face when he was who was calling, the tone of his voice... Caboose shook off the thoughts, he should just focus on finding Church.

It wasn't long before Caboose found himself alone in the halls, he was walking in a less used area of the school. He took a deep breath, once again telling himself to calm down, Church was probably around here somewhere, he wouldn't just leave school without saying anything.

"God dammit, just leave me the fuck alone!" Caboose perked up, that was Church, and he didn't sound too far away. The blonde walked towards where the voice came from, everything just became eerily quiet. He stopped in front of the bathroom, this was probably where Church was. He felt even more uneasy now with the quietness. Caboose slowly opened the door, he heard shaky breathing, Church was definitely in here.

"Church?" Caboose asked softly, he was worried whether his friend was okay or not.

"Go away." The blonde heard pain in Church's voice, instead of listening Caboose walked in front of the stall Church was in, he took in a sharp breath. Church had cuts all on his arms, some fresh, in one hand the black haired teen held a knife and in the other he held his cell phone. The black haired teen looked up at Caboose, he quickly sighed and looked away. Caboose just continued staring in shock, at first he didn't know what to do, he wanted to freak out at Church for hurting himself liek that, but at the same time he wanted to just wrap the black haired teen up in his arms and make the pain go away. Caboose shook his head, he grabbed Church's arms and took him over to the sinks, deciding it would be best to clean his friend up before asking questions. The black haired teen winced when water met the wounds, but Caboose ignored it, they had to be cleaned. After a couple moments he turned the water off and grabbed a bunch of paper towels, he placed them on Church's arms and held it there hoping to stop the bleeding.

"What happened?" The blonde asked quietly, Church took in a shaky breath, his lower lip quivered a bit, he backed up a little and leaned up against the wall, making sure not to make any eye contact.

"He called." Church stated with a raspy voice.

"Who?" Caboose asked, the black haired teen swallowed and tried his best to fight back tears, but none the less they started falling down his cheeks.

"My dad..." He said, Church then slid down against the wall and fell to the floor, he buried his head into his knees and started sobbing. Caboose came over to his side and started patting his back, unsure how to make his friend feel better. The blonde was about to ask what was so bad about his dad but Church spoke up before he could.

"I know you're probably wondering why I ran away... It's... It's because of him." The black haired teen said, Caboose took a breath in, what could his dad have done that was so bad?

"After my mom died he... He started to abuse me." The blonde's eyes widened, his question had been answered, but he was not at all satisfied with the answer. Church's dad had... How could someone even do that?

"And you dealt with that for seven months?" Caboose asked, Church nodded, looking away from the blonde.

"Yeah... It got too much to deal with... I mean he tried to-" The black haired teen cut himself off, Caboose felt his heart drop, Church looked pitiful right now. It was a moment before he spoke up again.

"... He tried to r-... take advantage of me... I-I didn't let him, I fought back but... he got really violent after that... Threatened to kill me... I left not long after that." Church said, Caboose felt anger rush through him, he never felt this angry before, but what kind of father would do that to his own kid?!

"This is how I got the scar, why I can't see out of my right eye." Church said fighting back the tears, Caboose couldn't take it anymore, he pulled the black haired teen into a hug. Church let out a small gasp before sobbing into the blondes shirt. Caboose felt terrible, he didn't know what could make Church feel better. Everything made sense now though, why Church had ran away, why he lived alone, why he was such an introvert, why he flipped out at the mention of his dad... Caboose should've seen it before, everything was right in front of him. The blonde knew for a fact Church had told no one else about this, it made him happy to know he was trusted but worried on how this had affected Church, the black haired teen seemed to be pretty upset and shaken up right now. Caboose needed to think of something to do, he knew Church wouldn't want to stay at school for the rest of the day and wanted to find a way to make Church happy again, he suddenly got an idea.

"Hey Church, why don't we go bowling or something. We used to always do that when we were younger." Caboose suggested, Church pulled away from the blonde and looked up at him with tear stained eyes. A small smile formed on his face, and he let out a raspy laugh. Caboose couldn't help but smile himself, he loved seeing Church happy, it made his heart flutter. He couldn't deny it, his feelings for the black haired teen were growing everyday.

The two got up from the floor, Caboose made sure Church's arms were fine before they left the bathroom. They sneaked out of the school, it was a lot easier than they expected, and then went to the bowling alley. A couple people questioned why they were there on a school day but Church said that they got dismissed early. They had a lot of fun but Caboose couldn't shake off his worries, Church had been bottling this up this whole time, he had been hurting himself because he was so upset about what had happened... he was probably traumatized. Caboose had it decided, he would be the one to make Church better, he would be the one to make him happy, he'd be the one that was there for him.

************************************************** *****************  
Let me just say you guys are going to be VERY happy with the next chapter... It's going to be very eventful! :D You're not gonna want to miss it!


	6. Chapter 6

*****Authors Note*****  
** You guys are going to love this chapter yet hate it at the same time, there are going to be a lot of feels, drama, and even a hook up. Who will it be? I don't know... Well, I do, but I'm going to make you keep guessing until you actually read it! :D I'm mean today. But thank you so much for reading this story! **

** P.S. I did not realize how long this was going to be... Oops. This is going to be the longest chapter... Seriously don't expect chapters this long after this, it was just a planning mistake. The first two parts were actually supposed to be a lot shorter than they ended up.**

************************************************** *****************

Church sat in class, staring out the window, he was trying to get his mind off of the phone call he got from his father yesterday... His father said he was going to come after him... That he knew where Church was... The black haired teen shook off the thoughts, he couldn't think about it or else he'd have a panic attack, he'd break down like he did yesterday in front of Caboose.

Sure it felt better to finally tell someone, he had been planning on telling Caboose sooner or later anyways, but still Caboose seemed so worried about him... He felt bad. The last thing he wanted was to make the blonde act different around him and now it seems Caboose was going to be all sympathetic and crap. Church sighed, he didn't want to be treated any differently, but there was not much he could do about it now.

"Church?" The black haired teen was snapped out of his thoughts when the teacher called his name, he remembered that they were getting partners for a small project they were going to do in class. Church turned his attention towards the teacher waiting for her to tell him who his partner for the project was, he wished Caboose was in this class, then they could work together. Church groaned to himself, why did he always have to think about the blonde.

"You'll be paired up with Simmons." The teacher said, Church groaned, he turned back to see Simmons giving the same shocked/angry look he had given the teacher. Church hated Simmons, and he was sure the feeling was mutual, they had basically hated eachother since Middle School.

There were different cliques in the school, Simmons, Grif, and Donut had been in a group ever since 6th grade. Meanwhile Church, Tucker, and Caboose had been in their own group, Tex later joined them in highschool. Back in Middle School there wasn't much of a popularity differential, it was just different groups of friends, but there were rivalries. Church and Grif's group had mainly been the biggest rivalry of the whole school. The black haired teen forgot what even started it, but during sixth grade the two groups went back and forth with pranks. In seventh grade Grif's group got the help of a senior in highschool, his name was Sarge or something. Boy did he cause a lot of trouble. Sarge basically bullied Church and the rest of his group. Still somehow Church's clique became the popular one, and when eighth grade rolled around Church had used everything that Sarge did to him against Grif's clique. The black haired teen had become the bully. When it finally rolled around to ninth grade Church and his friends were the top of the popularity list, they made friends with Tex who was a sophmore at the time and Grif's group was labeled as the losers. Things just kinda stayed like that afterwards, and now they were all in eleventh grade. Junior year and the rivalry was still going.

"Let's get this over with." Church said as he walked over to Simmons' seat with the work they needed to do.

"Fine asshole." Simmons responded, Church glared up at him.

"Nerd."

"Jackass"

"Fag"

"Closeted fag" Church's gaze narrowed. Why did Simmons have to be such a fucking know it all. He cleared his throat before speaking up again.

"Let's get to work." The blakc haired teen said looking down at his paper, he could see a smirk on Simmons face but ignored it. The two started working, they finished their work fairly fast, since they were the two smartest people in the school. It wasn't as bad as Church thought it would be and the two started talking a little after it. They started talking about the teachers in the school, then about some of the other students. Soon they found themeselves on the topic of relationship issues. Neither of them knew why they were talking to eachother about this but they both seemed to have problems they needed to talk about.

"Grif's just so lazy, he never wants to go out to do anything." Simmons said, Church scoffed.

"Yeah, I'm not surprised." He said, Crif was always lazy, it wasn't much of a surprise that he didn't want to go out to do stuff, even if it was with Simmons.

"The only thing he'll go out to do is his stupid pranks, everytime I ask to go somewhere to hang out he'll say 'maybe later' and we never end up doing anything!" Simmons exclaimed. Grif was the prankster of the school, hence why a lot of people hated him. Church had to admit, his pranks were a pretty big deal, they always went noticed. He'd even sometimes pull them on teachers, destroy their cars, vandalize their house... No one wanted to be pranked by Grif. Luckily Church and his group of friends were safe, Grif knew that if he pulled a prank on them he'd end up getting beat up by Church.

"Don't ask him, just demand to go out. Blackmail him if you have to." The black haired teen told Simmons, the brunette looked at him shocked for a moment, then he frowned.

"I don't know if I could pull that off..." He said uncertain.

"Out of everyone, you probably have the most dirt on Grif, all you have to do is mention it and he'll get his lazy ass up." Church said. SImmons looked deep in thought, then he smiled after a couple moments. Church guessed he thought of something to blackmail Grif with and laughed, Simmons wasn't too bad.

"You know what you said was true." Church blurted out, he was a little surprised himself that he had brought this up. Simmons looked over at him confused.

"What?" He asked. Church sighed before speaking up again.

"What you said earlier, about me being a fag... it's true." He told Simmons who looked at him in shock.

"You're... gay?" The brunette asked.

"Closeted, so if you tell anyone I'll beat the shit out of you, but none the less, yeah... I'm gay." Church said, he couldn't have anyone finding out about this. There was no chance people would accept him if they found out he swung the other way, he had been viewed as the bad ass of the school for so long, girls gawked over him, he was at the top of his class, if people found out he'd be viewed as nothing more than a freak. Sure they were fine with Simmons and Grif being together, they were even fine with Donut being gay, but Church was different... This would be a shock to everyone and he'd fall right off the popularity chart down to zero. Church shook off his thoughts, he didn't have to worry about this, no one would find out. He looked over to Simmons to see the brunette smiling at him.

"Caboose?" He asked, Church blushed and slowly nodded.

"I knew it!" Simmons exclaimed, Church quickly shushed him.

"Not too loud." The black haired teen stated, not wanting to gain the attention of anyone else in the room.

"So I'm guessing you haven't told him." Simmons said, Church scrathed the back of his head nervously.

"Well it's not like I can. I doubt he feels the same way and I'm going out with Tex..." Church couldn't believe he was actually having this conversation with someone he disliked.

"I think you should break up with Tex, you obviously don't like her. You should tell Caboose about your feelings too, I can tell he likes you." Simmons said, Church perked up.

"Really He-... Wait, why are you telling me this?" The black haired teen asked suspiciously, Simmons hated him, so why would he try to help him out?

"Well, everyone deserves to be happy... and because you're a lot less of an asshole when you're with Caboose." Simmons stated, Church was about to open his mouth to speak but the bell rang and everyone rushed out of class. The black haired teen sighed, his next class was with Caboose. As much as he loved to be around the blonde he was still afraid that he'd start treating him differently, not to mention all Church would be thinking about is what Simmons said about Caboose liking him. Church groaned as he realized tonight was the Christmas party, he was not looking forward to it, the only good thing was that Caboose would be there. A small smile formed on Church's face when he remembered the blonde was coming over after school to help get things set up. It would just be them... alone... together. He quickly shook off his thoughts, he had a girlfriend... as much as he wish he didn't. He couldn't do that to Tex, even if he cared more about Caboose it would be wrong to do anything with him.

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Church entered his apartment with Caboose at the side, he was a little less embarrassed to show it off now that he had fixed it up a bit. It looked a lot more homey now, with nicer furniture and tidied up a bit. Church placed his back pack on the floor and went over to the kitchen were there were decorations and supplies, Caboose followed not too far behind but was a bit quiet. Church knew it was because of what he had told the blonde yesterday, and wasn't too surprised.

"Can we talk?" Caboose asked as if almost on cue, Church nodded and sat down at the kitchen table.

"Sure." He said. Caboose took a deep breath before joining Church at the table and speaking up.

"You... You'd tell me if you were going to do something... drastic... right?" The blonde asked, worry was written over expression.

"What like kill myself?" Church asked, Caboose looked away from him and nodded, seeing the cuts on his friends arms must've caused him to ask this.

"No, I'm not going to try that again." Church mentally slapped himself for saying that, he wanted to reassure Caboose, not make him feel worse! He just indicated that he had tried to kill himself before... Which he really did try to do, but he didn't want Caboose to know that. Church looked over to the blonde and instantly regretted it, even more worry was written over the blonde's face.

"You tried to-" Caboose started but Church cut him off.

"It was months ago Caboose... It's not a big deal." The black haired teen said, Caboose shot him a glare.

"It is a big deal, you tried to kill yourself!" He exclaimed, Church groaned and grabbed the bridge of his nose.

"I'm not going to try to again, I'm over that." The black haired teen said.

"But you're still hurting yourself, Church." Caboose stated, crossing his arms. Church sighed and tugged his sweatshirt sleeves down a bit more just to make sure none of his cuts and scars were visable.

"It just helps... okay?" Church said quietly, Caboose's gaze on him softened a bit but still held it's sterness. The blonde stood up and walked over to him, he then grabbed Church's arm and pulled up one of his sleeves, revealing the scars. Church flinched, he wanted to look away, but just couldn't, he was frozen when he saw Caboose's gaze of disappointment.

"Church... What makes you think this is okay?" The blonde asked quietly, Church looked down at the table, the fact was it wasn't okay. Church knew it was wrong, he knew it was bad but he couldn't stop because it just helped him get over things... He hated himself, and doing this just helped releave some of the anger... It made him feel better. Part of Church even felt like he deserved it, like he deserved everything he had happen to him. He was a jack ass, a bully, he put other people in pain so why not put himself in pain as a punishment. Caboose let go of Church's arm and returned to the other side of the table with a sigh, unhappy that he didn't get an answer to his question.

"I'm sorry..." Church mumbled.

"What for?" Caboose asked as he sat down.

"For doing this... For making you worry." The black haired teen replied, Caboose shook his head.

"Don't be sorry. I just want to help you... I want to understand why you're doing this, why you're still putting yourself in pain after everything happened... You're punishing yourself for what your dad put you through and I just don't get it..." The blonde trailed off. Church felt more guilty with this but was shocked when he looked back up to see Caboose staring at him with determination.

"I don't care how long it takes, I'm going to help you get through this and make sure you're happy again!" The blonde said, Church couldn't help but smile and stiffle a few laughs.

"Come on, let's start decorating." He said as he started going through some of the bags of decorations. It was not long before they had gotten most of the house set up. Now they were just working on setting up the snacks and drinks.

"Hey Church, do you have plans for Christmas break?" Caboose asked, Church looked over at him, that was a bit out of the blue.

"Nope, why?" He asked, the blonde scratched the back of his head, a little flushed.

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come spend Christmas with me and my family... You don't have to, I just thought you might want to instead of staying here alone." Caboose said, Church smiled.

"That sounds a lot better than sitting here alone like an ass." The black haired teen said, Caboose perked up instantly.

"Ok! I'll talk to my mom, I know she wont mind, she used to love having you over!" He chirped. Church smiled to himself, he was going to spend Christmas with Caboose... Oh my god, he was going to spend Christmas with Caboose! Church felt his anxiety rising and shook off his thoughts. Instead he focused on setting up the party that was in just another hour, he really hoped there weren't too many people that came.

************************************************** ********************

So there were a little more people than expected, luckily there was still enough space and refreshments for them. Church leaned on the wall away from everyone else, he wasn't really comfortable with all this, but it's not like he could say no now. Most of the people here were cool anyways, Church had just been talking to Washington for a bit, he still hadn't confessed his feelings to Carolina and Church was trying to give him some advice. The black haired teen found it humorous that he was telling someone else to suck it up and confess their crush, he was such a hypocrite... didn't even take his own advice... Church was snapped out of his thoughts when someone stood in front of him, he looked over to see it was Tucker.

"Hey." Tucker said, a little nervous.

"Hi." Church responded flatly, he didn't want to talk to his 'friend' right now, not so soon after finding out about his little affair with Tex.

"Are you still pissed at me?" Tucker asked, surprised and annoyed.

"Well, yeah, I feel a little betrayed that you slept with my girlfriend." Church responded crossing his arms, Tucker rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on, you weren't with her at the time. Anyways, at the time you seemed a lot more interested in Caboose than Tex... Actually, you still seem that way." He said, Church glared at him.

"What are you trying to say?" The black haired teen asked through gritted teeth, Tucker could not have realized this! He couldn't have found out about Church's crush.

"Nothing. Just that you don't have a right to be pissed, I don't get it. I don't get why you're still with her if you're so pissed about this. You fight with her all the time, the only thing the two of you have in common is that you both can be stubborn assholes. You always complain about her and say that she's a bitch. Yet you say you 'love her' and you stay in the relationship you seem to hate." Tucker pointed out. At first Church didn't know how to respond to this but then he realized how hostile Tucker was about this, and a possible reason why he could be.

"You like Tex don't you?" Church asked, Tucker froze.

"Ha, that makes sense. Explains why you slept with her and why you're so mad that I'm with her now." The black haired teen said smugly, Tucker glared at him.

"I know you don't love her, I know you're just using her, and I know why." He said before walking away. Church couldn't help but feel a bit of anxiety pulse through him. Could Tucker possibly know?

After that the party went by fast, it wasn't long before everyone had left and it was Caboose and Church at the apartment. The blonde was staying over for the night. It took a bit to clean up everything but they had and now they were returning to the apartment after throwing out the trash and joking around.

"Why are you afraid of thunder anyways?" Caboose asked, they had been talking about their childhood and some of the silly things they did. Church shrugged.

"I don't know, it just always freaked me out. I remember when I was a kid I used to have to sleep in my parents bedroom when there was a thunderstorm, my mom would get so annoyed when I came in there in the middle of the night crying." He said with a laugh.

"Wimp." Caboose said jokingly nudging Church. The two were walking down the hallway to the room.

"Hey at least I'm not afraid of clowns." Church responded, he opened the door to the apartment and started to walk in.

"Remember the time tha-" He started but was cut off by Caboose.

"Church?" He asked, Church turned around to see Caboose had stopped at the doorway and was looking up at something. Church looked up and his eyes widened at what he saw. Mistletoe.

"Did you put that there?" The black haired teen asked, Caboose shook his head.

"No, did you?" The blonde asked.

"Nope." Church responded. Someone must've put that there without either of them noticing. Church felt a spark of fear rush through him as he realized what this meant, he looked to Caboose and noticed the same fear was running through the blonde. Church thought about it for a moment then smiled.

"Well, rules are rules." He said, Caboose stared at him shocked, a light blush appeared on his face. Church knew for a fact that if he hadn't said that Caboose would've backed out, the blonde probably thought Church would be pissed or something. The black haired teen blushed himself as he looked at Caboose, this was really going to happen. It wasn't a dream, it was real. Caboose nervously stepped closer and started leaning forward, Church took a breath before leaning in himself, he was trying to calm his nerves but just couldn't. He was going to kiss Caboose. The space between the two disappeared as their lips met. Church couldn't even find the words to describe it... it was just amazing. He felt arms wrap around him pulling him closer and blushed a bit, a moment later the black haired teen wrapped his own arms around Caboose's neck and pulled him into the apartment. It wasn't long before the kiss deepened, tongues weren't in their respected places and Church found him pinned against the wall. Honestly, he was in pure bliss, he didn't care where this led, he didn't worry about people finding out, he didn't even think about Tex, his only focus was Caboose and how amazing this felt.

************************************************** *********************

Church opened his eyes groggily, he felt exhausted. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair, he was about to get up when he realized something. There was a person lying next to him, and not just any person, it was Caboose. The black haired teen blinked and then realization hit him, he remembered what happened the night before after the party. He had kissed Caboose... Church blushed knowing he did WAY more than just kiss the blonde, the two made out and they-... The black haired teen's eyes widened. He slept with Caboose. He had sex with his bestfriend. He cheated on Tex. Panic filled throughout Church, he couldn't believe he did that, he just got caught up in everything and lost control.

Church growled at himself 'I cheated on my girlfriend and slept with my best friend! Not to mention I was on bottom!' The black haired teen was freaking out right now, he didn't know what to do, he just took a pillow and buried his face in it.

"Fuck." He said to himself. Church felt movement next to him and realized that Caboose was waking up, he took a deep breath waiting for the blonde to say something, but he heard nothing. Church lifted his head from the pillow to see Caboose staring at him in shock, still figuring everything out.

"Did we..." The blonde started, Church slowly nodded.

"Oh my god." Caboose said, Church leaned his head back onto the wall.

"I'm sorry." Church turned over to Caboose confused.

"Why?" The black haired teen asked, Caboose looked over at him a little upset.

"I made you cheat on Tex." He said queitly, Church scoffed.

"You didn't make me do anything." He stated, turning away before adding a mumbled 'just don't worry about it.' They stayed there for a couple minutes in silence, both thinking about how to go about this situation.

"What should we do?" Church asked, Caboose turned to him.

"We'll just... forget this ever happened. We'll let things return back to normal." The blonde said, Church nodded before turning away, honestly he wasn't sure if he wanted that. The two didn't talk much after that, Caboose left the apartment not too long after they had agreed this meant nothing and that it never happened, leaving Church to his own thoughts. The black haired teen felt like crap, not only for cheating on Tex but for the fact that he didn't stop Caboose, he didn't tell the blonde his feelings. Church didn't want to forget about this, he was positive now, he wanted to be with Caboose, he didn't care about Tex or anyone else... But it seemed like Caboose didn't want the same thing, he wanted to forget... Or was he just saying that? Could Caboose like him back? They did sleep together... Church sighed, there was only one way to find out and in order to do that he'd have to admit his feelings... but if it meant the chance to get with Caboose he'd take it. He used to be afraid of love, afraid of getting his heart broken, hell he still was afraid of that, but Church knew that if things worked out it would all be worth it.

************************************************** ***************************

Caboose walked into school, he really didn't want to be here, not after what happened during the weekend. He didn't want to see Church, not with Tex at least. He didn't know if he would be able to stand it now. Honestly Caboose didn't want to forget about what happened but knew it was the only way to make things right and keep Church as a friend. The blonde found his friends all together and walked up to them. Tex and Tucker were chatting about something and Church seemed to be uninterested and lost in his own thoughts.

"Hi guys." Caboose said, everyone looked over at him... everyone except Church, who purposely avoided his gaze. Most of the group said hello to Caboose and then returned back to their old conversation, the blonde couldn't help but feel awkward here right now.

"Hey Church, we're gunna go to Carolina's party Friday." Tex said, Church looked up at her seemingly annoyed.

"No." He said to everyones shock. Caboose gaped, did he just say no... to Tex?

"What?" Tex asked a little irritated but more surprised.

"I said no, I'm not going. I don't like parties, honestly I hate them, I had that stupid little party at my apartment anyways because you wanted it but I'm done now. I'm not going to anymore fucking parties." Church said, pissed off. Tex looked at him in complete and utter shock.

"Oh... Okay..." She said, after that the bell rang. Caboose felt relief wash over him, that was too awkward and if Church was in a bad mood he wasn't sure he wanted to be around him... The blonde had a feeling he was part of the reason his friend was in that crappy mood.

As the day went on Caboose felt his anxiety and worries rising, and now he found himself in front of Science... The class he had with Church. The blonde knew this was going to be torture. When he entered the class the teacher told him they'd be working with their partners on a lab. Caboose silently cursed himself knowing Church was his lab partner. Surprising enough though the black haired teen didn't say much to him, he didn't even seem pissed anymore. The two were done their lab and Caboose was about to walk to his desk when Church grabbed his arm.

"We need to talk." The black haired teen said, Caboose looked at him wide eyed.

"What about?" He asked, Church gave him an 'are you serious' look.

"You know what it's about. I'll talk to you after class." He said before going back to his seat. Caboose stood there for a moment, processing this. Was Church going to flip out at him? Why would he want to talk to him about that when they agreed to forget about it? The blonde shook his head and went to his seat. When the bell rang he shot out of the classroom, hoping to get to lunch before Church even got out of the room so they didn't have to talk about this, but the black haired teen was one step ahead of him and pulled the blonde aside.

"Really Caboose?" Church asked with a bit of humor, Caboose looked at him confused, he didn't know what the heck Church was going to say right now. At first he thought the black haired teen was pissed at him but now he seemed perfectly fine... happy even. Church kept his grip on Caboose's arm and dragged him into an empty classroom nearby.

"What's going on?" Caboose asked, a little afraid to hear the answer, Church peered out the window on the door to make sure no one saw them before turning back to Caboose.

"I don't want to forget." The black haired teen said, Caboose looked at him confused.

"What?" He asked, Church walked over to him, the blonde wasn't afraid anymore. Something about the tone in Church's voice just calmed him down.

"I don't want to forget about what we did Caboose." Church said, Caboose realized what he meant now, but had no clue why he was saying it. Why would Church want to remember that they slept together. The black haired teen took a deep breath, there was a small blush that appeared on his face, Caboose's heart fluttered with how adorable he looked.

"I..." Church started but trailed off, he was playing with his sweatshirt now and wasn't making any contact with Caboose whatsoever. The blonde's eyes widened, he couldn't be about to... Was he really going to confess?

"You what?" Caboose asked, Church looked up at him for a moment before averting his gaze once again, he mumbled something that the blonde couldn't make out.

"What did you say?" Caboose asked, Church sighed, he pulled on the blonde's shirt making him lean down so that they were face to face and caught him in a kiss. Caboose was shocked for a moment but soon embraced the kiss, wrapping his arms around Church. The kiss lasted only for a little bit until Church seperated from it.

"I don't want to be 'just friends'" The black haired teen said.

"What about Tex?" Caboose asked, Church shrugged.

"I can deal with her later, I just want to be with you." He said, Caboose smiled and leaned into a kiss. He finally had Church. He couldn't feel any happier right now.

Meanwhile Tex sat at lunch with Tucker, she wasn't sure where Church was. Caboose seemed to be missing too. She didn't know what caused Church to flip out at her earlier, he seemed pissed with her all day. Tex didn't even know what she did wrong!

"Church isn't even here. I'm telling you Tex, you'd be better off with someone else." Tucker said, Tex sighed, he had been trying to get her to break up with Church ever since he came back.

"You know, we could always hook up again." Tucker stated, leaning a bit closer to Tex. The red head shook her head, as appealing as that sounded it didn't sound right, even if she did have some feelings for Tucker.

"No, I was lucky enough that he took me back. I want to stay loyal to him." Tex said, she felt terrible about what she did before. If she knew Church was going to come back she would've never cheated on him. Tucker looked over at her, for a moment she thought she saw sadness in his eyes, but it was gone as soon as it appeared.

"Why?" Tucker asked, Tex smiled looking back at him.

"Because I love him."

*****Authors Note*****  
**So who's side are you on now? Tex or Church? And what couple/pairing do you like the best? Leave the answer in the comments! Thank you for reading! Hope you're happy!**


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